Preparedness

I stood by with an eyebrow firmly raised as I watched Orrin assemble the gear he kept stowed in the back of his Jeep. Preparedness wasn't the name for it!

This was a man who prepared for the absolute worst. I had never seen such a complete bug out bag before and if that wasn't enough, he had enough spare items to make virtually an entire second pack of which I would carry.

Very impressed I continued to stand off to the side as Orrin set the pack on the ground next to his. He was very quiet this morning, if morning could be what it was called. The light was dim and yet the evidence of the sun shone through the ash laden clouds overhead dimly in proof of it being morning because of its position in the sky.

Refocusing on Orrin I again wondered at the reason for his quiet reserve. His manner towards me was nothing but respectful though, and so I had little cause to worry.

My face flushed, as the memory of how he had essentially buried his face between my legs this morning and licked me with his tongue, came back in full force of passionate memory. He glanced at me and noting my blush his brow quirked and he spoke his first words of the day, "Want me to do it again?"

Did I ever, but my response to him was a shy, "No."

He looked away and worked on removing the back floorboard of the Jeep, but in the process of doing so, he said, "I thought you weren't supposed to lie as a Christian."

My face blushed a brighter red, but for a different reason. I didn't give him an answer though and without waiting for one he pulled up the floorboard of the Jeep and I gasped aloud at what was revealed.

"Are you crazy!" I exclaimed, as my eyes took in the arsenal that had been revealed.

"That's what the doctors said." Orrin said nonchalantly and glancing to him I started to disclaim what I'd meant, but holding a hand up, he stated, "I know what you meant." In the process of doing so he smiled and I was struck by how engaging his smile was.

Feeling a little weak in the knees from the effects of it, I asked, "The doctors said you were crazy?"

"Mentally unstable and prone to uncontrollable bouts of rage is how I believe they put it." Glancing to me he said seriously, "You were right to fear me."

I shook my head no, and said, "No, I wasn't. I should have prayed sooner is all."

He shook his head and began unloading the stash of weapons. I blinked repeatedly as I saw him connect a string of grenades to his belt.

"Exactly what will they be needed for?" I asked softly.

He glanced at me and then back to his task as he spoke, "Being a civilian and a foreign one at that, I don't expect you to know what even now is occurring. You see I've taken part in disaster training for an event like this and let me tell you the aftermath of an event like this isn't pretty. Those you think should help you will be your executioners in the end."

"What do you mean?"

"You ever hear of FEMA?" He asked and I nodded my head yes.

"Well, there are thousands of FEMA camps in this country. Many are disguised as jails and the irony is that this is exactly what they are. An event like this is something that some very influential people have desperately been waiting for to occur. There are those in this world who feel that there are far too many useless eaters, as they would call them, essentially you and me. A natural event like this gives them the ability to ensure a dramatic drop in population, even as they find popular support to declare martial law and throw the whole book of American freedoms out the door as they sit happily within their underground bunkers swilling down martinis on the rocks while people eat each other on the surface."

The level of bitterness in Orrin's voice was telling and softly I interjected, "You worked for these people?"

"I did. Yes, I played their game for them. To my never-ending shame I confess to being fully complicit with their plans such as they are." He trailed off with before giving me a direct look and stating, "Survivors like you and me without shelter of our own will be rounded up and shipped off to one of those FEMA camps as soon as they catch sight of us. That can never happen. I will put a bullet in your brain before I willingly allow you to enter one of those concentration camps! If for any reason we get separated and authorities of any kind try to coerce you to go with them you resist with everything you've got! They'll tell you that they have food and that you're going to be taken to a safe area, but all that is code for is abuse, starvation, and death, that is, unless you catch the sight of somebody high up and that would just be never-ending abuse. Do not under any circumstances enter a FEMA camp! The moment you do, you lose all liberties and likely any chance that you had at survival. Do I make myself clear?" He asked firmly and there was no doubting the sincerity of his gaze that demanded an answer from me.

"Understood Sir. Resist or die trying."

His brow quirked and nodding, he said, "Yes, now take this and keep it with you at all times."

Numbly I accepted the small 9mm from him along with several clips for it.

"Do you know how to use that?" He asked and surprisingly I did know so I said, "Yes."

"Good. Now I also want you to carry this." He said, leaning what I took to be a shotgun up against my pack.

As for him, he shoved a big looking revolver into his belt and stacked a mean looking semiautomatic rifle up against his pack. Preparations seemed to be complete and turning to me he crooked a finger and said, "Come here."

Slowly I did. He swung around me only to clasp his arm about me as his lips whispered into my ear, "Time to be honest, Jolana, and admit you want more. I'd love to strip you down and feast on you again, but we need to be moving. But..." His hand slipped beneath the loose band of my pants to press heavily against the upper area of the apex of my thighs where I was sensitive the most, only to finish his sentence by saying, "….. there's nothing wrong in making you ache with anticipation to have me again as we walk all day long."

I groaned as the pressure of his finger manipulation of me echoed strongly through the material of my bikini bottom's thin fabric. I was on the verge of something highly pleasurable when he withdrew his hand from stimulating me and groaning, I turned my head to stare at him, but he only smiled as he said, "You've got a long day ahead of you to appreciate everything I'm going to do to you tonight."

He stepped away and I acknowledged to myself that he was indeed a cruel man. I swung on my pack and awkwardly picked up the shotgun and then followed after him as we made our way down off the knoll and into the heart of the destruction wrecked by the tsunami of yesterday.

~~~~~~~

Things did not go as planned and the coming night saw us still moving onward. The horror of what we had seen in the course of this day would be forever etched in my memory.

Equally horrible was the reality of Orrin's words coming to full fruition as truth. I had thought he was being a bit too over-the-top in his claims of what authorities would be like to the survivors of such a disaster, but not any longer.

Earlier in the day we had seen another party of survivors and I had been on the verge of asking Orrin if we could team up with them when a helicopter had come up over a rise. The other party had waved madly at the helicopter and I had been on the verge of doing so as well, when Orrin arrested such a movement by pulling me down to where he had taken shelter behind a trashed car.

The helicopter had circled around to the group and then it had unmercifully opened fire upon them. Gasping, I'd ducked my head against Orrin's chest as the screams of the others had wrung out as they were stalked from above.

Orrin had held me tightly and when the helicopter had gone, he'd patted my back and said, "Time to go Princess."

It was from that moment onward that I stopped doubting him about anything. The savagery of what life would be like in this fallen world seemed to have doubled in short order.

We saw more survivors as we moved on, but I made no effort to call out to them. Indeed, from my vantage point there would have been no reason to as everyone I saw was scavenging through everything they could find and the setup that Orrin had in readiness would have evoked nothing but covetousness and likely gotten one or both of us murdered.

No, I was very fortunate to be with who I was with. Despite the lack of civil control in the moment I felt safe with him.

In the dark I stumbled wearily and Orrin caught hold of me and stabilized me. "A little farther Princess. I think I see terrain up ahead that hasn't been touched by the water and indeed I find that encouraging."

Glancing up I peered through the dim of early morning gloom to see what looked like standing trees up ahead of us, at least I thought I smelled the forest anyway. Feeling revitalized, by the thought of being surrounded by an unwrecked topography left untarnished by the loss of life and the debris of civilization, I speeded up.

Then at almost the same moment we saw the fires. All along the ridgeline there was the faint glimmer of fires burning into the semidarkness.

Survivors or governmental authorities? Did it really matter which?

Orrin stood still and I waited for him to decide the course of action. Turning at last to me he said, somewhat apologetically, "It's going to be light soon. We don't have enough time to slip by whoever they are."

I nodded and he headed off to the side and I followed. He found a sheltered spot where two boxcar trailers had been stacked half on top of the other and unfurling a blanket he unslung his pack and laid down on the blanket.

I did the same and with security I skootched back against his sheltering presence. My eyes closed and it seemed that I was instantly asleep as I felt his one arm come securely around me.

He palmed my one breast in his hand and I smiled wearily as sleep claimed a hold of me. It was a nice feeling to be held by a man.